Vicar's Letter - 19th August 2022

Kia ora All Saints whānau,
 
Last Friday, Guy and the girls picked me up at work on and we headed to El Rancho in Waikanae for a one day/one night retreat with All Saints’ staff and Parish Council. To be honest, I was a bit exhausted and brain dead after a full day of seeing clients. But when we arrived, we walked into a room full of people, committed with us to bringing about God’s Kingdom in our community, and I was instantly energised.
                                                                                          
On Friday night we drank mocktails and played SingStar (think competitive karaoke). And on Saturday we sat around tables, seeking to hear God’s voice and discern together what God might be saying to us all. In my experience, there are few greater feelings than collaborating with others about Kingdom work.
 
Despite having to pack and unpack a car full of gear to be able to take our kids away for a measly 24 hours, I arrived home on Saturday night full of life and energy, and with a renewed excitement to move forward with the mission God has given us.
 
Part of what we did on Saturday was to review 2022 thus far and consider how we are doing with the goal we set of focusing on the value of ‘Missional Living’. It was a great chance to reflect and realise all that God has done amongst us. Here are just a few of the things we have seen:
 

• We have a thriving group of young adults (several of whom were with us on our night away) who are passionate about making Jesus known to our community.
• We have a naturally emerging space after school on Thursdays where parents and kids are walking over from Kilbirnie school to gather in the centre, eat cheese toasties, and just be with one another forming relationship.
• Our kids are so excited about the spaces of community (like Thursday afternoons) being created that they’re gossiping about them on the playground and kids are going home asking their parents if they can come along.
• As a church whānau we are going out and serving alongside our local community to show them what Jesus’ love looks like and let them know we are here and we care.

 
I think it’s easy to let life happen and sort of forget or not realise the ways in which God’s Spirit is moving. And that’s one of the reasons we are called to be family together. We would never be able to do it all alone; we would lose energy, get discouraged, and give up. But when we go on the journey together those things lose power over us.
 
In our sermon series, “A Kingdom of…”, we have found ourselves in quite a few discussions about how to be right in our relationships with others and with ourselves because that’s what God’s Kingdom is about. As we carry on through the rest of the year I want to lay down that challenge once again. We, as a parish, have committed to pushing outward, but as we do that, let’s take inventory and see if there are ways we can strengthen the example of Jesus that we are offering to our community.
 
Let’s make peace with one another, true peace. Let’s be merciful with one another. Let’s hunger and thirst for righteousness together and bring about God’s Kingdom to those around us.
 
In love,
Summer